Polar Bears Not Guilty, Guilty

Back in October, a group (head? flock?) of protesters clad in polar bear costumes descended on Capitol Hill to protest congressional failure to deal with global warming. They were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly.

In court on Monday, a judge found five polar bears not guilty of the charge. He then re-charged them with a lesser offense — failure to obey a police officer — for which he found them guilty, said protesters Ariel Vegosen and Adam Eidinger.

Eidinger, a protest leader, said that the group didn’t intend to disobey or get arrested. “I was done. The protest was over and the police knew that, but they had room in the paddy wagons,” he said. “We weren’t on the street; we were on the sidewalk. They’re suppressing basic free speech.” Eidinger said the bears are filing a motion to reconsider in advance of their scheduled March 7 sentencing.

Watch the video of the dancing bears here.

— Ryan Grim